Stop and Stare
by seinooo.kcvii
Summary: Oneshot. ReTi. AU. He stopped and stared at her.


I have decided to make these two cute characters as a pairing to vent my stress on. **ReTi**. *claps* Yay. Writing AFW's third chapter's stressing me up.

Enjoy **Stop and Stare**.

I love David Sides piano cover on this one. :D That's an inspiration for this fic.

Oh, and sorry if the 'school' here is waaaay…uncommon to where you come from. It's pretty much based from my own. P: Meeh… 'Elmo' comes from you know…

(xD I asked my sister what comes to her mind when I say 'Reno'.)

* * *

"Good morning, Reno!" Yuffie greeted him and smacked his back hard.

"Morning, Reno…" Elena yawned.

"Just so you know… I live knowing 'good morning'… is an oxymoron, yo…" Reno grumbled under his breath.

_Tch. I freakin' hate Monday mornings._

That's not the only one he hated. Upon stepping into the school grounds, his reaction was always…

…cricket chirping, dead silence.

All of the buildings were freakishly white. Every time he went anywhere for smoke breaks and missing classes on purpose, he would go _almost_ insane. Floor, shiny and white. Ceiling? White. Walls (no matter how much he sprayed graffiti on it and scribble obscenities), white. Someone always painted it back to white. They're too dedicated to white. It's white hell.

At least they didn't have to wear white clothes as the code. That would make the place pass as a school-slash-asylum for real.

"Oh yeah, Elena, my cousin's coming this term. She's starting today."

"Yeah?"

"U-huh. I heard from Cloud that—oh, hey, Aerith! Listen, listen!"

The girls resumed chattering and even included high-pitched squeals at the dean, Sephiroth. Reno rolled his eyes and joined his buddies, Tseng and Rude and ignored stares from the female and male population.

_Effin' gaylords…_ He sighed. He didn't mind girls to ogle him; in fact, he welcomed it with open arms. But of the same sex as him was plain…wrong.

He began the tedious journey up to his registration class, lazily stepping on each tread and dodging those who skateboarded down at the banister with Tseng and Rude a few yards behind him.

At the landing of his destination, someone bumped onto him, causing books to fly around and a guitar to crash its way down to the ground. The person ignored the books and peered down. It was smashed.

"Oh, eff…"

A girl.

In black. Black clothes, dark hair covering her whole face. She contrasted heavily against everything there. She would pass as an Elmo if she hadn't mumbled him 'whatthehell' and clicked her tongue and shrugged as if it was nothing much to her. As far as he knows, all guitar guys loved theirs to death. Some even collect them.

"Sorry, yo…"

"…It's okay. I don't play guitar."

_What the… She doesn't complain and she doesn't care?_

"How much? I'll pay—" She bent down and collected all her belongings.

"No need. I'm in a hurry."

"Huh?"

The Elmo girl darted away to—his class.

_Great. She'll start tellin' on me… Maybe I should just skip… Nah. Someone's needin' my math worksheet to copy._

Tseng and Rude caught up with him.

"Mind telling what that was all about?" Reno shrugged.

"No idea. That Elmo chick doesn't want me to pay for her guitar. Better that way. Every gil counts."

-- -- --

First two periods were music. 'Elmo' stood at a corner.

_She's here too?_

Cloud Strife checked the attendance and once he was done he introduced the girl to the whole class.

"Class, this is Tifa Lockhart. She's majoring in Arts and Music."

Elmo—Tifa walked calmly to the front, clearly showing a smile despite her bangs in the way. Heck, nobody was able to see her face clearly. Students gave her confused smiles in return.

"….What he said."

"Okay, Tifa, do you mind showing your prowess in music here?"

Reno noticed she kept glancing at Cloud's guitar leaned on a wall.

'Yes sir," she huffed.

And that was when Tifa brushed her bangs aside to reveal her face clearly.

Reno's first thought was definitely 'Holy shit, she's daym hot!' and a long gape.

"Can I really use anything here?" Cloud nodded in approval.

She chose the piano despite her eager glance at the guitar. Sure, no one noticed this but Reno did. And somehow he was feeling guilty about it and tried to drown it by talking to someone to his right. Some watched in enthusiasm and some ignored her, thinking a newb was trying to show off. She began running her fingers deftly at the keys.

…He knew this tune. (Even though he wasn't a piano person.)

Stop and Stare.

Indeed, he stopped (talking) and stared at her. He could see her lips softly moving, singing along with the music. Nothing was off-key.

Alright, he wasn't really a normally cheesy dude but all he could note in his head was she was a goddess with the piano. The class actually gave a whole round of applause to her when she was done and he _thought_ she passed him a furtive smile.

His whole image of her being a stereotypical Elmo shattered.

When the class ended, however, she stayed behind and that didn't go unnoticed by Reno.

"Uh. Hey. The name's Reno, yo. Got it memorized?" She giggled, tucking her hair to an ear.

"Tifa."

"About earlier…"

"You know I'm not into guitars."

"Huh? Then why do you have one—" Tifa chuckled. She picked up Cloud's guitar and swung it to her front.

"To smash someone's head."

"Hahaha. That's not how you hit someone. You do it on the flat side." Her grin widened.

"Ohh… Thanks for the tip."

Tifa tiptoed to Cloud, who was checking some scores. She pulled the guitar up. Reno's eyes widened. He hid behind the door. No way was he going to be her partner in crime. _That's a teacher, dammit!_

Too bad for her, Cloud caught her reflection and ducked in time. The guitar hit nothing and Tifa clicked her tongue in annoyance. She propped up the guitar, twanging the little star melody. Cloud grinned and ruffled her hair, messing up her bangs once again.

"Really, Tifa. That's no way how you say hi to your brother."That caught Reno by shock. _They're siblings?_

"I hate you and your guts."

"Thanks." She pouted.

"It wasn't a compliment. How dare you transfer me to this…ridiculously white school? It's too bland. Tell Rufus to add colors to his life. Sheesh."

Ooh, someone who agrees with me for the first time, Reno thought.

"Easier to watch over you like this."

"That just reduced your points. Let's go, Reno. I'm outta here." Reno gulped. _She noticed? Gah._

Tifa grabbed her bag and exited, muttering something incoherent about Cloud and his rules. Before he left, Cloud grabbed his shoulder.

"…Reno. Give her a good time." Reno nodded nonchalantly.

"Will do."

He knew his life in the new term wouldn't look so bad anymore. Hanging with the new student had its perks, too. Who knows, they might end up being together.

* * *

Hahah. Sorry, it's pretty short.

(…Her reply was: 'Him, toaly nekid.*grins*.' My stomach's hurting from laughing too much. I think it's because she read 'My Disjointed Life'. I swear, she's turned to a perv at the young age of *bleep*.)


End file.
